Margaretta Furnace

Margaretta Furnace. . , 1823 - Henry Y. Slaymaker builds the Margaretta Furnace and names it after his wife., 1826 - Henry agrees to split the furnace 50-50 with his brother Stephen., 1828 - The furnace starts production, producing about 30 tons of iron ore per week. The Slaymakers also erected Woodstock forge nearby to turn their ore into finished products such as ten plate stoves., 1830-32 - Henry Slaymaker expands his operation and builds most of the other prominent buildings around like the stone mill, church, school, post office, general store, workers houses, etc., 1836 - Margaretta Furnace burns down, the blaze believed to be caused by either a spark from the works or lightning., 1837 - The furnace is rebuilt and upgraded with the newest technology to be more efficient. Scrip is also issued to the workers for use at the company store., 1843 - Henry Slaymaker declares bankruptcy and the furnace property goes up for sheriff sale., 1854 - Last recorded blast of the Margaretta Furnace; the mill continued operation by the George Himes family., 1897 - Benjamin Mittel buys the stone mill and the surrounding 52 acres of land. He ran the mill until his death in 1927., 1946 - The stone mill was demolished., (Captions from upper left to right), Portrait of the furnace operation, including the mill and the run., Photograph of the mill, taken during the 1920's., Margaretta Furnace Scrip. , From the collection of the York County History Center, York, PA, Mittel's Mill, Margaretta Furnace was the leading producer of pig iron, kettles, skillets, firebacks, and ten plate stoves in the area. To the left is an image of a ten plate stove.